BIRMINGHAM, Alabama --- Patrick Thompson, the remaining finalist for Jefferson County's first professional manager, will return to Birmingham this week for a second round of interviews, County Commissioner Jimmie Stephens said today.

Stephens said Thompson, the former county administrator for Hamilton County, Ohio, which contains Cincinnati, will return to the courthouse Wednesday for more detailed discussions with commissioners.

"To do our due diligence, and to give him a fair shake, we need to bring him back in and talk to him one more time before we give a thumbs up or a thumbs down," Stephens said.

The other finalist for the position -- Harry Jones, the county manager of Mecklenburg County, N.C., which contains Charlotte -- withdrew from consideration on Sunday. Jones is the second finalist to withdraw from the Jefferson search. The first withdrew before being publicly identified.

Thompson said today he had been in contact with the commission and arrangements were being made for a followup interview.

Stephens said each commissioner will focus on his or her individual areas of responsibility during the coming interview with Thompson.

"I'll be concentrating primarily on finances, where we are, and check with his decision-making process and capabilities along the financial lines," said Stephens, who has responsibility for the county's finance departments. "Where we spoke in generalities before, we will now begin to speak in specifics and see what his vision is for the county as we move forward."

Commissioner Joe Knight said he was reviewing Thompson's resume and other materials ahead of a second meeting, but would like to consider additional candidates.

"I haven't really made up my mind, but I'm thinking our choices have been narrower than I would like," Knight said. "We had three, then it went to two and now we have one."

The commission began interviews last week, bringing in Thompson and Jones.

The state Legislature passed a law in 2009 that mandated the commission hire a county manager by April 1, 2011. Lawmakers in March extended the deadline to June 1 to give the commission more time to find the best candidates.

The law gives the commission an additional 120 days to look for another candidate if one does not get a supermajority of commission votes -- agreement by four of the five commissioners -- by June 1.

The county has been dealing with a long-running $3.2 billion sewer debt that it cannot repay and, more recently, general fund woes triggered by March's Alabama Supreme Court ruling that wiped out the county's occupational tax and business license fee. Those sources generated $74 million, one-fourth of the county's general fund, in 2010.

All of that was before April 27's tornado damage that county officials estimate will cost at least $400 million to clean up, although federal and state money will likely cover most of those costs.

Asked last week why he wanted the job, Thompson said, "Why not? If you want to make a difference, why not this challenge?"